HOK Designs Boston Consulting Group’s Canadian Headquarters

Long before the pandemic, Boston Consulting Group had embraced hybrid work, giving employees the freedom to come to the office—which total more than 100 across the globe—meet with clients at their workplaces, or complete certain tasks from home. Whichever made the most sense for the business at hand. That said, collaboration is at the heart of how the management consultancy, often referred to as BCG, operates: Staffers form teams to tackle knotty problems clients are facing and puzzle through the issues to arrive at solutions. And this sort of teamwork, BCG felt, is best carried out face-to-face.

Back in 2017, when the company tapped HOK for its new Canadian headquarters on three floors—46, 47, and 48—of a tower rising in Toronto’s financial district, BCG sought an office that would be dazzling enough to draw employees to the workplace, that would provide a variety of bespoke settings so that teams could be as productive as possible while on-site. All of which is to say that when the pandemic hit in 2020—sending companies around the world scrambling to, first, figure out how to work remotely during lockdowns and, then, how to lure employees back to the office after they’d become accustomed to doing their jobs from home—BCG was way ahead of the game. Sure, there were tweaks to HOK’s concept for the 100,000- square-foot BCG project because of the pandemic—designers had to make sure work- stations were 6 feet apart, for example, and they loaded up meeting rooms with video- conferencing and audiovisual equipment for staffers participating remotely—but the changes amounted to fine-tuning a good plan that was already in place. And the result is this spectacular, ultra-sophisticated space that serves as a showplace for the company and a magnet for a workforce now numbering more than 400. “On the busiest days, we’re approaching pre-pandemic attendance levels,” Nina Abdelmessih, BCG’s chief of operations and external relations in Canada, says. “Everybody is coming in.”

HOK Designs a Hybrid Office for Boston Consulting Group

The plan’s success started with carving out an atrium near the window wall on the two lower floors—one advantage of coming to the project while the building was under construction was that this could be done before the floor plates were in place. Working with the developer, HOK specified an opening measuring a generous 20 by 80 feet, envisioning it as the “heart of the organization,” Caitlin Turner, HOK director of interiors in Canada and the project lead, notes. The atrium fills with light and opens up views of the city and Lake Ontario. Rooms situated off it are sided in glass so everyone shares in the sunshine.

A beckoning staircase steps up through the atrium to the top floor. It encourages employees to walk up and down—healthier for them than taking the elevators—and results in serendipitous encounters that add to the general esprit de corps. “There’s this buzz,” Turner enthuses. As for the seating areas in the base of the atrium, in the café, she adds: “At lunchtime, it’s like a high-school cafeteria.”

But serendipity also played a part: Turner tracked down a black-stained oak credenza she spotted on Instagram for use in a touch- down room, where it joins an oversize pendant fixture by Marcel Wanders and sinuous Italian armchairs. It’s just a sampling of the international, contemporary aesthetic permeating this buzzing workplace—one that is clearly not cookie-cutter but has helped become something of a model for other BCG offices in the throes of relocation and renovation.

Behind the Design of Boston Consulting Group’s Canadian Headquarters

HOK: PAUL GOGAN; BRITTANY TOD; KRISTINA KAMENAR; CALEB SOLOMONS; SALLY SHI; FARIBA SAJADI; ROWENA AUYEUNG; BETHANY FOSS; DANIEL MEEKER

RJC ENGINEERS: STRUCTURAL ENGINEER

MITCHELL PARTNERSHIP: MECHANICAL ENGINEER

MULVEY & BANANI LIGHTING: LIGHTING DESIGNER

MCM: CUSTOM FURNITURE WORKSHOP

Opus Art Projects: Art Consultant

VISO: CUSTOM SCONCES (ATRIUM), CUSTOM CEILING FIXTURES (BOARDROOM)

geiger: WOOD CHAIRS (CAFÉ)

PENGELLY IRON WORKS: CUSTOM SCREENS

KEIL­HAUER: BENCH

EUREKA LIGHTING: RING PENDANT FIX­TURES

STEELACASE: BOOTHS

gervasoni: BRASS PEN­DANT FIXTURES

BILLIANI: GRAY CHAIRS

TRIBU: BROWN/WHITE CHAIRS

CEMENT TILE SHOP: FLOOR TILE

muuto: PENDANT FIXTURES (OFFICE AREA)

STUDIO OTHER: WORK­ STATIONS

knoll: CHAIRS (OFFICE AREA, LIBRARY)

SHAW INDUSTRIES GROUP: CARPET TILE (OFFICE AREA, NOOK)

herman miller: CHAIRS (DIGITAL ROOM)

HALCON FUR­NITURE: TABLES

flos: CEILING FIXTURES

Interface: CARPET TILE

nienkamper: TABLES (TOUCH­DOWN, COFFEE BAR)

GALLOTTI&RADICE: CHAIRS (TOUCH­DOWN)

POIAT: CREDENZA

AREA ENVIRONMENTS: WALLCOVERING

flos: PENDANT FIXTURE

CASALA: CHAIR (NOOK)

cappellini: CHAIRS (BOARDROOM)

PRISMATIQUE: CUSTOM TABLE

CREATIVE MATTERS: CUSTOM RUG

Davis Furniture: BENCH

filzfelt: PANELING (MEETING ROOM)

Haworth: DEMOUNTABLE WALLS

Allied Maker: PENDANT FIXTURES (COFFEE BAR)

ARRMET: CHAIRS

MOSAÏQUE SURFACE: WALL TILE

STONETILE: VINYL FLOOR TILE

BENJAMIN MOORE & CO.; SHERWIN­ WILLIAMS: PAINT

Acro Suites, a Clifftop Resort, Wows in Crete

Nearly 4,000 years ago, on the Greek island of Crete, the Minoans, one of the few societies believed to have been matriarchal, birthed the first advanced civilization in Europe. It’s an achievement worth mulling over when savoring a glass of kotsifali, a red wine made from grapes native to the island, and looking out onto the Sea of Crete from the terrace of the bar at Acro Suites, a new wellness resort near the fishing village of Agia Pelagia. While the stunning property, conceived by two local sisters, Danae and Konstantina Orfanaki, may not represent the birth of a more advanced civilization, it surely heralds the dawn of a more enlightened and environmentally responsible approach to Aegean hospitality design.

The siblings, cofounders of the firm Afoi Orfanaki, have hospitality in their blood. They grew up at their parent’s nearby resort, learning the business while developing ideas about what a next-gen Cretan destination should be. After studying hospitality management and interning at top hotels abroad, the two young women returned home and set about renovating a few sections of the family property to show off their novel ideas. Impressed, their father gave them free reign at a new hotel venture he was developing on 20 clifftop acres above Mononafatis Bay.

Acro Suites Reflects the Beauty of Crete

Orfanaki Sr. and local architect Stavros Peppas, who had already begun the project, envisioned “a small Santorini with all-white buildings,” Danae says, but the concept for the space shifted to seamlessly meld with the surroundings. “Our desire was to promote the site’s raw, natural beauty with a design that was as organic as we could make it.” This new vision required modifying the partly built resort where possible—a task the sisters assigned Alexandros Kolovos, copartner, with civil engineer Vassiliki Exarchou, of Athens-based CMH Architecture, a firm known for its respect for nature. Sensitive to both the privileged setting and the island’s ecology, the completed hotel comprises a stepped chain of one- and two-story structures—45 suites, four villas, a wellness center, restaurant, and the terraced bar—perched along the cliff. Constructed of local timber and stone, some of it excavated on-site, the earth-toned complex blends in with its rugged surroundings. Although rustic in appearance, the property is powered by a geothermal system and a photovoltaic park, and guest facilities incorporate smart technologies to reduce electricity consumption wherever possible.

How a Cliffside Locale Lends Itself to Sustainable Design

It took about four years to develop the final form of Acro Suites, the name being a play on the Greek akros, meaning on the edge, a nod to the way the hotel hugs the bluff, affording spectacular views of the jagged rocks and roiling surf below. “Standing on those cliffs, I felt like a seagull nesting on the rocky slope,” Kolovos says. “The views from the rooms were to give that exact same feeling.” Along with those panoramic vistas, each suite and villa boast an extended terrace and private saltwater pool. The suites encompass four typologies—Loft, Wave, Gaia, and Cave—the most remarkable being the last, which are carved out of the cliff face, their craggy open mouths framing the splendid seascape. Floor-to-ceiling glass fronts let light into the grottolike spaces, the walls a mix of exposed and plaster-covered living rock face, the furniture and millwork rendered in local timber, stone, and marble from ancient Phaistos. Being subterranean naturally modulates these suites’ interior temperature, reducing the need for heating or air-conditioning. “If the resort layout hadn’t already been established, we would have made the whole thing underground,” Danae admits. “But Alexandros topped the buildings with arches and domes to simulate the landscape.”

The Orfanaki sisters are already at work on a new ecologically minded Cretan destination. “It’s impossible to make a resort that is 100 percent sustainable, but we want the next one to take it to the max, while still being luxurious,” Danae says, before adding, “It’s going to take some years.” Until then, for planet-loving sybarites, there is Acro Suites.

An Inside Look at Acro Suites in Crete 

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anastasios tserpelis: utopia hotel design

peppas n architects: architect of record

dimitris karameris: landscape consultant

manos kypritidis: graphics consultant

woodline: woodwork

edifice: structural engineer

regeon renewable energy systems: mep

gervasoni: pendant fixtures (reception)

fiori: vase (reception), baskets (bathhouse)

fantini rubinetti: shower fittings (gaia bathroom)

vasilis perogamvrakis: custom mirror (acroterra bathroom)

fabbrica: custom sofa (gaia lounge)

riva 1920: stool (wave)

platakis: stone sinks (bathhouse)

creta pergola: canopy (yoga)

tsakirelis: pendant fixture shades

linea interiors: sheets, blankets, curtains

simmons: mattresses

kopidakis: sunbeds, sofas

home & hotel deco: sofa pillows

technoart: rock

genitsaridis marble: custom coffee tables

artglass neopoulos: windows

novamix: paint

Through Adaptive Reuse, Studio Alexander Fehre Turns Two Buildings into a New Facility in Germany

German corporations employ the highest number of engineers in all the European Union, which means they are constantly scouring the globe for qualified staff. So, how do they lure such specialized employees away from the competition? Perhaps by suggesting that, contrary to dour memes, the work life of an engineer in the Federal Republic is, quite possibly, fun.

“There’s a cliche of the German engineer toiling tirelessly away in a little chamber,” designer Alexander Fehre admits. Which is exactly the kind of work environment that the Studio Alexander Fehre principal and his team sought to avoid creating for Bosch Engineering GmbH, a developer of electronics systems for automotive and other applications, headquartered on a 108-acre campus in the southern German town of Abstatt.

Executives at BEG, a subsidiary of multinational technology giant Robert Bosch, asked Fehre to turn two of its buildings into a facility for special engineering projects that run for a few weeks or more. What they got was 48,000 square feet of flexible work space that combines the know-how of an established corporation with the dynamic vitality of a start-up, while infusing the whole with a spirit-lifting sense of play.

The two glass-and-steel buildings, which are about 330 feet apart, are both two stories high. One, known by its number, 204, is a new structure by WMA Architekten; the other, 301, was designed by SFP Architekten in 2004. Having previously conceived headquarters for another Bosch subsidiary, Fehre was already attuned to the conglomerate’s corporate culture and thus able to give the separate interiors a satisfying physical and psychological unity.

Splashes of yellow, shimmering metallic surfaces, warm honey-hued wood, and an abundance of car motifs feature throughout, lending the workplace an upbeat yet focused energy appealing to BEG’s high-profile clients ,such as Pagani, an Italian maker of limited-edition supercars that cost $3 million and more.

The combined facility, which brims with flexible furnishings, dozens of meeting-room iterations (in 17 enclosed spaces), and hybrid lounges (in airy, light-filled open areas on all four floors), provides satisfying transitions between a range of spaces, from studious work zones to convivial gathering spots. “The goal was an open, international feeling that points to very different projects from very different clients in Europe, America, Asia, and beyond,” Fehre explains.

The 2,600-square-foot lobby of 301, where an existing ceiling and some glass partitions were removed but the terrazzo flooring retained, now doubles as a showroom for products developed by Bosch, with a mini race car and a small helicopter among the projects on exhibit. MDF display plinths in reflective teal PVC and oak veneer are surfaces for both meet-and-greet beverages and gleaming engine parts. The dynamic zigzag geometry of the existing stair gains new prominence after its concrete stringers received a coat of glimmering blue-green lacquer. “It’s called flip-flop paint and comes from the car-tuning industry,” Fehre notes. “The color changes depending on which angle you look at it.”

Of all the enclosed meeting and work spaces, perhaps the most intriguing—and fun—is the computer lab, a 500-square-foot room with walls paneled in perforated aluminum that is backlit with LEDs. As staffers create desktop simulations of how BEG products might affect vehicle performance, they are surrounded by a dazzlingly pixelated environment that feels like being inside a supercomputer of the future. Or inside an engineer’s dream playroom of today.

studio alexander fehre: per hohberg; johanna pander; josse freund; magdalena paprotna; inna strokous

Baierl + demmelhuber: custom furniture workshop

jab anstoetz: rugs (community hub, hall)

gervasoni: chairs (hall)

heinrich schmid: paint (301 stair)

delta light: pendant fixture (yellow alcove)

westag & getalit: island laminate (kitchenette)

Haworth: chairs (computer lab)

thyssenkrupp: paneling

ecoline: leds

blå station: modular seating system, barstools

kvadrat: upholstery fabric

strähle: partition system

Dupont: solid surfacing

schöpfer: custom foil

alfred kiess: custom plinths

Interface: carpet tile

Otto Studio Takes a Page From Dante’s Poetry for the 25hours Hotel Piazza San Paolino in Florence, Italy

2022 Best of Year Winner for International Chain Hotel

International travel these days is undoubtedly heaven and hell. In the former camp is visiting Italy, particularly Florence. But Interior Design Hall of Fame member Paola Navone embraced both the paradisal and the infernal when she drew on Dante Alighieri’s epic poem, La Divina Commedia, as inspiration for the interiors at 25hours Hotel Piazza San Paolino in the 14th-century poet’s native city. “Every project is its own scenario connected to the place where we build,” she begins. “Every story is built from scratch, every element needed.” The results—a sui generis mix of materials and products, some sourced from far-off locales—all stem from the depths of Navone’s fertile imagination.

The hotel is the first Italian property for 25hours, a hospitality brand based in Hamburg, Germany. Navone met founder Christoph Hoffmann several years ago in Switzerland. “We liked each other, became friends, and stayed in contact,” she discloses. Ecco, the commission for her firm, Otto Studio. It was Hoffmann, she adds, who came up with the poetic concept: “Totally crazy. Here was this German guy who comes to Italy to do The Divine Comedy. I took the challenge and interpreted the idea in a light, charming way so Italians wouldn’t feel aggressive toward it.”

Located near the Santa Maria Novella church and the city’s train station, the 115,700-square-foot hotel, which encircles an open courtyard, comprises two main parts: a renovated three-story building partly dating to medieval times that was long ago a pawn shop run by priests, and a new three-story annex replacing a dilapidated warehouse in the adjacent garden. All architectural interventions, made in collaboration with local firm Genius Loci Architettura, came under the watchful eye of the belle arti department of Italy’s Ministry of Culture. (“We came upon tombs during excavation,” Navone reports.) The hotel’s 171 guest rooms are distributed across both structures, which are connected by an interior corridor and the courtyard.

Knowing Florentines and tourists alike, Navone cleverly planned three entrances—one on the piazza and two on the side street—none opening exclusively to reception. One serves the Companion bar, since what, after all, is the first place guests inquire about upon check-in? Outfitted with custom iron-and-brass tables, crimson tufted-leather upholstery, and dark indigo walls, this moody boîte alludes to the first part of Dante’s poem, Inferno, where drinking was deemed a sin. Not for Navone, who dubs it a “church for alcohol.”

The entrance on the piazza leads to I Golosi—an alimentari, or food hall, that pays homage to Italy’s ubiquitous small grocery markets—its name, which references the sin of gluttony, spelled out large in a wall mosaic. Navone turns that on its heels, too. “I’m giving people the chance not to feel guilty,” she reasons. “Maybe inferno is not as bad as people think.” Especially when it’s filled with the delicious pasta, bread, and wine that are available to eat here or take away. Supplementing the real thing are faux salami and prosciutti—art objects rendered in crochet, fabric, papier-mâché, and painted plaster—that hang among aluminum pots and pans overhead.

Reception provides an even bigger wow factor. Custom vinyl wallcovering behind the desk flaunts a super-enlarged version of the marbled paper that Florentine stationery and bookbinding are famous for. The check-in counter hosts another witty art installation: Sourced throughout Europe by vintage collectibles dealer Davide Mariani, old suitcases have been painted silver-green and arranged in teetering piles to greet arriving guests It suggests the ultimate travel nightmare: a lost-luggage office in hell.

Seemingly alfresco, the adjoining San Paolino res­taurant sits beneath an immense steel-and-glass cupola. Vintage chairs and new ones made of recycled plastic and metal surround custom marble tables, which are in turn surrounded by a profusion of plants, some real, some not. The ersatz greenery, which has sound-absorbing leaves of recycled textiles and polymers, was commissioned from Linda Nieuwstad, a Dutch artist. While the restaurant is a study in daylight, the adjacent lobby bar evokes a dusky blue evening. Polyethylene globes, aglow like azure planets thanks to LEDs, give the lounge its name, Sfere Celesti.

Other amenities in the historic building include the Sala delle Celesti Armonie, aka, the music room. With walls covered in another marbleized super-graphic, backdrop to a portrait gallery of Italian divos and divas, it’s for reading or a game of billiards. Guests loath to miss a a workout can descend to the basement gym or use the ground-floor sauna and loungelike “relax room.” Unable to fill the latter space with real plants, Navone created her own fantastic garden with an effusion of green plastic watering hoses.

There are two types of guest room—Inferno and Paradiso—places Dante separates by an immense divide. No so here. Named after good and bad characters in the poem, they are interspersed freely on all floors. “The idea is you can be naughty in the red rooms,” Navone says with a laugh, noting the charred furniture and custom chandeliers with playing card motifs. (Gambling, another sin.) Paradiso rooms are sweetness and light: Floors are creamy resin; azure accents in rugs and fabrics allude to the heavens; and Alexander Calder-esque mobiles overhead suggest the solar system or, in Dante’s sublime final phrase, “the Love that moves the sun and the other stars.”

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otto studio: cristina pettenuzzo; camilla escobar; domenico diego

genius loci archi­tettura: architect

studio makia: landscape consultant

fulvio baldeschi: lighting consultant

milan ingegneria: structural engineer

stimp: mep

riabitz and partners: woodwork

ediltecno restauri: general contractor

pragotecna: floor tile (companion bar)

creative cables: pendant fixtures (stairway)

santamargherita: custom marble tables (restaurant)

maximum: side chairs

gobbetto: resin floor (paradiso room)

Add tag via side panel:

schoenstaub; seletti: custom rugs

rubelli: chair fabric

gervasoni: chair (paradiso room), stools (food hall)

flaminia lighting: floor lamp (paradiso room), sconces (restroom)

vox populi: pendant fixture (paradiso room, music room)

flos: pendant fixtures (sauna lounge)

sammode studio: pendant fixtures (food hall)

aufschnitt; maison cisson; sissi valassina; steiner & wolinska: artificial salami

Add tag via side panel: floor tile (inferno room)

karman: custom pendant fixtures (inferno room), sconces (inferno room, companion bar)

bacter: sofas (lobby bar, music room)

vicentina marmi: custom sinks (restroom)

mamoli: sink fittings

amura: armchairs (music room)

siru: floor lamps

rogai billardi: billiard table, green pendant fixtures

ingo mauer: sconce (paradiso room)

slide: globe pendant fixtures

la pietra compattata: composite-stone floor tile

vescom: custom wallcovering